Italy is a beautiful country with an ancient history that whispers wisdom and beauty around every bend. The scenery is gorgeous, the pasta delicious, the wine abundant. Before embarking on pilgrimage to this sacred land, I came face to face with my fear of the unknown, and my discomfort with not being in control of what would unfold. It kept me awake at night for weeks, a mixture of excitement and apprehension I couldn’t shake. And yet somehow I made it here. I’m at the International Pathwork Conference on the sunny Mediterranean coast in a remote area of southern Italy! Once I had said my goodbyes and boarded the plane, there was no turning back. I struggled to get three or four hours of sleep on the flight, had to navigate an airport in Naples where there weren’t many English speaking staff, and find the people I would travel with by bus to the hotel, many of whom I had only met briefly years ago. Jet lag was my closest companion for three days. In spite of all that, attending a Pathwork Conference in a foreign country has been a dream of mine that has finally manifested, and that feels very exciting. But what’s next? Where are the lessons the first leg of this pilgrimage is supposed to reveal? There are eleven countries represented at the conference, a rich mixture of culture, customs, and languages. And each workshop, each meeting, each meditation has been powerful beyond words. When people meet heart to heart–as so often happens at Pathwork gatherings–differences melt away and strangers quickly...

My entire life has been a pilgrimage of sorts, if you think of a pilgrimage as a long journey to union with God. As my personal journey has been unfolding through the seasons of my everyday life, I have periodically embarked on physical pilgrimages that seem to mark the beginning or ending of a phase of my personal or spiritual life. What does it mean to you to be a pilgrim? When I speak of spiritual pilgrimage, I value the internal process of reflection, inquiry, and discovery more than the external circumstances of the trip. Whether traveling to far off exotic lands, navigating the ups and downs of relationship at home with loved ones, meeting the challenges our career presents, or spending time meditating in a sacred space, each moment of life can be an opportunity to discover, explore and release the inner obstacles that prevent connection, fulfillment, and peace. Every day is an opportunity to take that next step in your journey toward aligning with and living from the deepest truth of who you are. Aren’t we all pilgrims, consciously or unconsciously? Once the journey becomes conscious, pilgrimage is a state of mind really, a commitment to be “in this world but not of it.” It’s a choice to follow the soul wherever it might lead, keeping the heart open to wisdom the brain cannot fathom. Certainly there will be mountaintops and valleys, clear days full of sunshine, and dark, stormy seasons. And as always, the journey is not separate from the destination. So whether the pilgrim is setting off on a...